


Shield of the Dawn

by Pookaseraph



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I wrote a fanfic for my fanfic, Kid Fic, May/December Relationship, Post-Canon, just... fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 19:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10883073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pookaseraph/pseuds/Pookaseraph
Summary: Cor deals with the transition from being Marshal to just being Dad, but it's not always easy for an old soldier to learn new tricks.





	Shield of the Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> So this is... sort of a sequel to a mashup of my fics. It was created because I really loved Leo Amicitia from Time and Time Again, but I ALSO really liked Ricard Scientia from Flickering Light, and... look there was time travel and there were babies and then Noct lived. YAY!
> 
> Catbuttermargerine asked for: 'Post-dawn, no strife, what the heck do they do with their life?' so this is what I did.

Sunglasses.

Cor really never thought he would need sunglasses in his life after the Dark fell. Most of the younger children, including his own Leo, Briony, and Corrin had managed to acclimated themselves to the sun with their young eyes, but Cor's older body had apparently decided that 'fuck that' and left his pupils in a perpetual state of semi-dilated.

He was fine inside, exposed to artificial light, or when the clouds rolled in off the Lucinia Sound, but a brilliant day with bright sun had his brain fighting back the beginnings of a migraine.

"The best part..." his King interrupted his thoughts, "is that you never backseat fish."

Cor glanced over to where Noct was sitting in his wheelchair, rod casually held in one hand, gently reeling, in search of the fish that had been released into the Kingspark Pond not three weeks ago. At his feet, Umbra was stretched out, muzzle gently resting on his paws.

"The less you bring in, the less I have to toss back," he answered.

"Enlightened self-interest." Noct chuckled. "Wouldn't want to throw your back out bringing in a whopper."

"Ha, ha." Ironically, despite their ages of thirty-one and fifty-six the King's back was in far worse shape, the cost of the Dawn. Cor was hardly a spry young thing, but a younger lover and bratty kids kept him younger than he could have been.

"Daaaad!"

Cor glanced up to see his son Corrin do a cartwheel without even putting his hands on the ground. "Six that still terrifies me," he said under his breath, but he raised his hands and offered applause in response.

Of course, thus began the saga of one-upsmanship and all of his kids and Ricard Scientia decided to have an acrobatics competition.

Noct gave up on fishing and the two of them observed the kids as they gave improvised performances across the Kingspark grounds, flipping and doing handsprings, and Ricard giving a very impressive amount of vertical lift for a kid of eight.

Eventually Ricard was declared the winner, and of course all three of his kids pouted about it, and then Cor told them to get mad, and get better, and then the pile of kids scampered off to play tag.

Noct worked his way through a few of the lures after that, casting and reeling with a lazy sort of contentedness that Cor couldn't help but admire.

"Maybe I should learn how to fish," he said. "Get a hobby..." Iris hard largely taken over the Neo-Crownsguard, filling the void left by her father with a sort of talent that Cor couldn't help but admire, but his girlfriend's position meant that Cor was largely redundant. He supported her as much as he could, as he always had. Even though Noct barely needed it Cor served as his personal bodyguard when he was out in the city, but Cor could admit he was trending towards being something of a... house husband.

"Other than babysitting?" Noct asked. "Speaking of which..."

Cor stood and let out a high pitch whistle, and the kids scrambled to comply with the order, various odds and ends that had been scattered around the park, and the lot of them came to gather around Noct and Cor. Cor took a quick look at the assembled children, dusted the grass off of Briony's knees and then fixed Leo's dark hair and gave each of his children a quick peck on the forehead.

Leo took the wheelchair in hand and the lot of them slowly started to progress towards the Citadel. It had been a year since Dawn broke, and his eldest son was ten... growing up so fast, and only too happy to help his father look after his King. There had been times when the relationship was difficult, when Leo lived under the belief that Cor wasn't his _real_ father, but thankfully those times were short. Still, no one looked askance at Leo being close to the king. No matter what anyone said, people still silently considered him The Prince.

"Dad?" Briony looked up at him, and Cor reached out to fluff her light hair. "Can I watch with mom today?"

"Of course," Cor answered, only too glad to have his daughter interested in the vagaries of state. "You'll have to be quiet."

"I know." She was only four, but she had a huge love of her mother and her work, especially the political half for Six knew what reason. Leo had taken after Cor with a vengeance, and would no doubt rival both his uncle and mother on the battlefields to come.

The short walk brought them to the Citadel, and then they climbed into the elevator and headed to the cafeteria where Noct then carefully climbed out of his wheelchair. He never much cared to show weakness before his Crownsguard, no matter how little Cor knew it mattered. Instead, Cor walked beside his King, providing a steady hand to support his deliberate gate.

"What do we have today?" Noctis asked the line in general, and the six of them made their way down the line, Cor selecting some food for the twins while Ricard and Leo largely fended for themselves. Noct made his own tray, but it was Leo who quickly darted to and from the King's high table to deliver both his own tray and then Noct's.

Iris was already at the table, sipping some tea and scribbling against a tablet. She glanced up when the pile of people arrived and she greeted each of her children with a soft kiss and then another for Ricard and they all settled in to their places at the table. Cor came to sit beside her, and the two of them traded a long, slow kiss that eventually made Leo grumble that the two of them should get a room.

Cor took his plate and began to cut up the daggerquill cutlet for the twins, putting a share on each of their plates, followed by some of the rice, peas, and broccoli, testing the temperature of the food before finally settling in for his own meal.

"Briony asked to sit in with you today," Cor said to Iris, although certainly loud enough that it was for the table at large.

"I'll come, too," Leo said, and then Corrin and Ricard were nodding along as well.

"It's just water processing things and some trade protections," Iris said with a soft laugh. "Pretty boring stuff, all told."

"We'll wake up dad if he starts to snore," Corrin promised, with an earnestness that made Cor wonder if the boy knew he was ragging that hard on his old man, but then his grin ruined the game.

"Alright," Iris said, giving each of the kids a firm glance. "But you make trouble you'll wish that I let your dad handle punishment duties."

Iris finally dragged Cor off towards the middle of lunch, with a promise from Noctis he'd look after them... Cor planned to come back to pudding everywhere and possibly anarchy within the ranks of his children, but it meant that he got to spend a few minutes making out with Iris in one of the smaller side rooms.

"Missed you," she said, softly, her hands brushing along his chest.

"It's been five hours," Cor answered, chuckling as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her neck.

"And I missed you. Morning training was a mess, I'm tired, I'm sore, I want a bath and a very long make out."

Cor let his fingers trail down her back, fingers digging into the muscles at her shoulder blades where she carried most of her tension. Iris moaned and then distracted him with her mouth and kept kissing at his lips, just driving him absolutely mad.

They ended up in some sitting chair, Cor thought he recognized it from Lestallum, maybe, and Iris straddled him and pressed her nose to his throat. "Love you..."

"Love you, too," he said, voice going soft as he brought his hands down her waist and hips before finally resting on her thighs and looking up at her. He couldn't help but feel confused sometimes, about why he got to have this.

"What's that frown?" she asked, reaching out and brushing her thumbs against his brow.

"Just..." He didn't know how to explain it, not in any way that made immediate sense, or could be put into one small explanation. "Feeling my age."

Iris sighed. "And all that ridiculousness that goes with it?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Cor... Six... how many times do I need to say it?" She didn't sound exasperated, but she did sound a bit bemused. "I've already fallen in love with you twice, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I know it's weird sometimes, but... forty years of beating the shit out of enemies of Lucis was enough, we won. I fight paperwork, you fight to get our King to the Assemblies on time and to get the squirts washed and in bed early enough that we can have a glass of wine and make out on the porch. Why isn't that enough?"

Some days he didn't know. Everything Iris was saying made sense. It didn't change that moment every few days where he was a fifty-six year old man with a beautiful, sexy woman less than half his age in his lap. It had been impossible to question it when he was a fifteen year old boy with a fifteen old girl atop him under the Altissian skyline due to a meddling Messenger, but now...

"Stop," she said, voice firm. "Cor it's just... I know I don't understand, not the same way you do, but I've been fighting since I was fifteen too, I've been fighting for my son, for my brother, for everyone in Lestallum. It's weird some days when I wake up and it's past dawn and my skin is warm from the sun. You're still an amazing warrior, I just... we don't need that anymore, Insomnia doesn't need that anymore. I need a sexy boyfriend who can drag both of the twins to bed and actually get them to close their damn eyes."

He knew that, intellectually, but... "Sometimes I feel like an old dog trying to learn new tricks."

"You've been a dad for years, a great one."

Iris snuggled into his arms, and Cor dragged her close and pressed his nose against her ear, nuzzling against her hairline and letting himself feel content in that moment. "It's so hard to let go. I never imagined it when I was a kid. I was going to die with my eyes open and my sword in my hand. Hells, I could very well die in my bed with my eyes closed."

"Cor, you're fifty-six, you're not ninety!" Iris said, chuckling. "You better not shove off any time soon. You could be forgiven in the Dark, but now you're stuck with me."

Oddly it made him think that he wasn't, not really. They'd never married, he'd never even proposed, they just lived together, had children together, and those children had her name. He never, ever minded, but in that moment he realized that it felt so fragile. A home of spun glass, and perhaps he could tie her down but then she couldn't leave him and he didn't want to trap her like that.

He knew she could tell he was still conflicted, but they had to break apart eventually. Duty called. Iris stepped away, dragging Cor with her, and they eventually found the kids. Only Corrin was covered in pudding, and Cor considered that a win as he took his youngest to the bathroom and scrubbed him while Iris took the rest of them to Assembly.

He found the kids in one of the smaller galleries up from the tables, and he settled Corrin in. It was _exactly_ as boring as promised. Hilariously it was Corrin who fell asleep, and Cor let his son doze in his lap, curled up, and he ran his fingers through his son's soft brown hair and listened to the litany of 'I agree with Lady Amicitia' and 'Minister Scientia's proposal fails to address...' before they _finally_ finished, and an incredibly large pile of very important people made their way to the little ice slush stand by the Citadel.

Ignis joined them now as well, and the mess of them took the brief walk to one of the small fountain squares that was in the midst of reconstruction.

"Reminds me of home," Leo said, taking a large bite of his strawberry slush.

"You used to eat these all the time when you were a baby," Iris said, and Cor was reminded of when his son was a young boy, before he'd even known Leo was his son, and he'd trailed after her with a happy string of 'Ma' that had warmed Cor's heart.

Leo took another bite, and then he curled up at his mother's side and she gave him a hug and a small boop on the nose.

"Things seemed to be... progressing," Cor offered, and the assembled group - or at least the adults - nodded.

"Population increases will eventually mean strains on resources," Ignis said, and Cor was slightly annoyed to realize all it meant was that he was now in the midst of a mini council meeting instead of a larger one, this time, Briony fell asleep against his shoulder, and he carried the twins back to their truck and brought the kids, Iris, and Noctis back to the Amicitia Manor.

Noctis had moved in with them upon their return to Insomnia, the Citadel held too many nightmares and not enough servants to assure the King was well tended while he regained his mobility.

A quick family dinner later, and the kids ran out to the yard and made themselves at home in the old box apartment that had been their home in Lestallum. It was an empty artifact now, but to Leo especially it was home, even if the twins didn't remember it as much.

Iris brought him a glass of wine and then made herself comfortable on his lap before she snuggled in. "Still grumpy?" She asked.

"Yeah. A little less, but... it's a hard thing."

"Tell me about it," she said, finally. "Were you really so ready to die at fifteen? I remember when I met you... you were so sweet."

"... Yeah," he said eventually. "We only knew each other for a short time, but I was already quite prepared to give my life for Lucis. I think when we first met, Regis told me to be a fifteen year old boy for once in my life, and I think all of the guys said something similar at one point or another. I'm not sure I ever learned to be a fifteen year old boy, much less an older man."

"You were a fine boy," Iris answered, taking a sip of her own wine and looking over to him. "And now you're a fine man. To you want to train the men more?" She suggested. "Go out on more hunts?"

Cor sighed. The 'hunts' such as they were, were little of note. Very little fauna made it through the Dark unscathed, the many mega-predators of the pre-Dark perished from lack of food or from daemons. Instead they had to make certain that the vortooths didn't eat the chocobos, both populations too precarious to lose a member. That was how Prompto largely passed his days anymore, setup at Wiz's Chocobo Post, nurturing the small number of birds that had made it through the Dark safe in Lestallum.

"I feel extraneous," he said, finally. "I could be replaced with a competent nanny and a vibrator."

Iris looked over to him and for a moment he was worried she would cry. She cried so rarely, her face hardly suited for it anymore, gashes down her cheek replaced where tears would have fallen, and she moved so she could press a hand against his chest. "Cor... I... No. Absolutely not."

"I'm getting old, Iris." It was still fairly rare he couldn't manage a command performance in bed, but it had happened, and would happen again.

"So? We're... we're an old married couple," she said, laughing even as she said it. "I don't need toe curling orgasms in the back of a gondola under an Altissian moon, I need the snuggly grump I'm in love with to be slightly less grumpy right now. And... a nanny? Cor... you know my mom, that Gladdy and I lost our mom young, so it was just us and dad? Jared was great, but he wasn't my dad. Even though I was totally in the middle of falling in love with you, those six weeks in Altissia were more time than I got to spend with my dad for a _year_ before he died."

Iris brushed her hand over his chest, and then grabbed at his shirt for a moment before yanking him up into a kiss.

"I'm not saying you've got to be the universe's best dad, but don't underestimate being there for our kids. Leo adores you, and you're going to have to twist his arm to keep him out of the Crownsguard even with no war to fight; Briony thinks you hung the moon; and Corrin thinks you made the stars..."

Cor knew she was right, and as she said it he couldn't help but feel a swell of pride in his chest. His kids were amazing, something he always gave Iris all the credit for, but he knew that Leo's sword form was his, and that Briony and Corrin adored their big brother and Cor.

"I mean if you want to go sit in on the Council and play Lord Amicitia, you're welcome to it. I'll stay at home mom..."

Cor would very much have rather done anything else. Instead, his idiotic mouth provided: "We're not married."

"Then marry me, you doofus."

For some strange reason, he always thought she wasn't quite ready for it, or she didn't want to, but instead she said it like it was as obvious as breathing.

"I sort of figured we already were..." she continued a moment later. "But we could make it super official."

They dragged Noct out of where he was being covered in pillows in the living room. Briony ruined a very nice tulip bloom to make a bouquet, and their King looked between them both and said: "If you're gonna agree to get married I'm gonna have to ask you to kiss."

He and Iris made out on the pillow fort in the living room while the kids scurried by to get the hell out before the clothes came off. They made it upstairs, barely, and Iris looked down at him with a big, goofy smile, before she leaned up and pressed a kiss at his nose. "Now you're really stuck with me," she said.

"... Yeah," he said, and he reached up and tangled his fingers through her hair and pulled her down. "I'm stuck with you."

It was impossible to never worry, but Iris was quite skilled at making him forget. His girlfriend-- his _wife_ had gone through so many hats, Lady Iris, Captain Amicitia, Mom, Lady Amicitia... Cor figured he could make the transition from The Immortal to Husband and Father eventually.

*

Fatherhood had easy trials: I lost a tooth, I don't want to eat sprouts, I skinned a knee... and then there were the trials that had Cor waking up in cold sweats.

Leo was sixteen now, the twins were ten, and Cor had been slowly preparing himself for the moment someone was cute.

But no, Leo never made things easy.

The kid had called a meeting. He even had Ricard babysitting the twins.

"I want to take the Trial of Gilgamesh," he said, looking between his parents with a firm set to his jaw.

Cor gaped. He rarely spoke of his Trial, had never really mentioned it to Leo, and he knew Gladio didn't speak of it much if at all. "That's... it may not even be there, and Leo this isn't a decision to be taken lightly."

Cor's own decision to seek the Trial was one of desperation and anger, he couldn't recommend it.

"To face the Trial is to face death for your own vanity," Cor said, his voice very firm.

"It's not vanity," Leo said, his own voice just as confident. "Uncle Gladio is still Noct's Shield, and Uncle Noct doesn't have children, but... only Cousin Clarus could become a Shield, but he doesn't want to. Grandpa Clarus gave us the duty to protect the People, and... that's going to be me."

His logic, although terrifying, was somewhat true. Just like the blessing of the Crystal passed through the firstborn Caelum, so did the power of a Shield pass to a firstborn Amicitia, and that was Gladio's boy Clarus.

"I'm the oldest, and an Amicitia must be ready to protect the People of Eos no matter the trial. I will face death to take that mantle. It's not... for vanity, it's because I'm the Amicitia born to the Dark. The twins barely remember it."

"You deserve to be your own man, son," Cor said. "You don't need to do this just for duty."

"I do it for myself."

Cor looked to Iris, where his wife was sitting, eyes downcast, meditating on what had been said.

"Do you really feel you need this?" Iris asked. "Your father nearly died, and your uncle fared only a bit better. You don't need a title, your father never needed one, and I didn't either."

"Yes," he said. "Ricard and I did the research. This is how a cadet branch claims the power of the main line."

They went back and forth for hours, whether or not it was fair to his cousin Clarus and to Gladio, whether or not Eos and Lucis even needed a Shield... but in the end he and Iris knew in their hearts that short of grounding their boy for the rest of his life there was little they could do to prevent him. Cor was only too aware that Gilgamesh would think Leo was old enough to fight and die.

Cor assured himself that his son's sword arm was true and his blade sharp... Leo spent a day with Gladio on the family farm, training and discussing the Trial, and Cor watched as his son kissed his mother on the cheek and ruffled his siblings' hair and father and son headed together to the Tempering Grounds.

Cor had never been a man to let fear grip his heart. In his youth he had been brash and fearless, he had earned a reputation for skill and luck that was unrivaled, but as he knelt on the hard rocky surface of the Tempering Grounds, he feared. He had been on this side of the doors to the Final Trial before, awaiting Gladio, hoping that he would not need to face the horror of a dead son to his best friend. Today he faced the fear of a dead son.

Leo, his first born, one of the greatest loves of his life, tempered by nine years of darkness and seven of light he saw the world for what it was: imperfect and troubled and in need of a Shield even in the absence of a King.

He had made his decision not in heat or arrogance, but in pure steel...

_'You and Mom fought my whole life to keep me safe and make the world better, I would be remiss not to do the same.'_

Cor had fought by his son's side, had watched as he returned from each Trial worn but successful, and he had escorted his son to the final Trial Chamber and then sat, eyes closed in prayer and contemplation.

He remembered his own Trial... hours of combat, feeling as though he was close to a breakthrough but never quite landing a telling blow... even when he had taken Gilgamesh's arm the shade had not faltered.

Cor returned to the present with the distant rumble of the Trail Chamber opening... and no son at the door to greet him when he opened his eyes. His heart caught in his throat, he stood, old knees creaking as he stood, and he came to the entrance to the Chamber. Perhaps this was his own Final Trial...

He took one step and then another, before he saw the Blademaster, adorned in his intricate armor, and his son standing tall next to him. His heart hammered in relief, and he took a few more steps.

"Hey, Dad." Leo smiled the sloppy half-smile he did sometimes when he was exceptionally proud of himself.

His son's teenaged pride be damned, Cor took the final steps to his son and drew him in to a tight hug, squeezing for dear life as he assured himself of his son's presence among the living.

"Good," he said, with a gruff distance he didn't feel. "At least now I can rest easy that your mom won't kill me."

Leo laughed, and he didn't even pull away far, just enough to show an embarrassed blush and scrub his hands over his short-cropped dark hair. So wrapped up in his son as he was, Cor barely remembered the presence of the old Blademaster, and it was only when the rumbling voice began that Cor glanced his way.

"My young man of conviction," he said, and Cor found himself subconsciously straightening. "Not so young anymore..."

"Sixty," he answered. His hair was far more grey than brown now, the lines that had always etched his face grew ever deeper, but he was still vital, he knew that. He was not one for a quiet retirement, although he mostly served as Dad more than a marshal.

"And yet still my souls fear you," Gilgamesh answered. "Perhaps fitting when some have thrice known defeat at your hand."

"Might want to consider some better souls."

The deep and distant voice chuckled, an odd sound that Cor could never have imagined hearing coming from the Blademaster. "Unto your son have I gifted my powers, and in his hand he shall hold the glaive that long served the first King of Lucis."

Cor glanced, he'd not recognized the blade at first. It didn't have the same look at the one that he'd remembered from long ago, instead it had taken on the wicked edge of a katana... a blade that post-dated Lucis's founding by several centuries. The intricate carvings that Cor remembered from vivid nightmares in his youth were etched in the blade all the same.

"Young Lion." Leo straightened in response. "Go forth with faith unfaltering that you have the strength to defend unto your dying breath."

His son bowed.

"I would speak to your father."

Leo took one hesitant look at Cor, but then nodded, retreating from the Trial Chamber, head held high and eyes forward. Cor watched him go, the ache of pride and concern in his chest, before he glanced back to the Blademaster.

"The Trial is concluded," Gilgamesh said. "I have gifted my power unto the Shield of the Last King... and to the first Shield of the Dawn."

Cor glanced to the shade, shocked. "My son?"

"Are you surprised?"

"When he said he wanted to take the Trial... I admit I didn't even know if it would still be here."

"I was also surprised to not flee with the Dawn, my purpose fulfilled..." Gilgamesh nodded. "But I see I have one more piece of wisdom to impart before I go. Do you know why you failed all those years ago?"

Cor didn't know exactly how to respond, so he shook his head, not to say no but because there was no way to encompass it so easily. There were a thousand reasons... "Pride, arrogance, a lack of skill... over my years I've struggled to see those faults lessened."

"There is but one reason you failed," Gilgamesh continued, and Cor wasn't certain he wanted to know, but it was also clear he was not getting out of having his fault listed plainly, he could only hope he had not been blind to it for forty-five years.

"Only a child of my line may receive my power."

"What?" Cor asked, shocked. That...

"If there was an arrogance, it was in believing that any but an Amicitia would be the Shield of the Last King, but you were more than worthy of my mantle." He nodded then, seeming to consider his piece said. "I recognized your son, the strength of my servant souls twice flowing through his veins... I did not even need to test his blade to know he was worthy to be my successor. Of course, test it I did; it would not do for the boy to grow too arrogant."

"That's a pisser," Cor said, finally, trying to come to terms with the idea that blood alone, blood he could never possess, was all that had forged his failure. "All those men who traveled to these ruins to test their strength were doomed to fail the moment they stepped inside?"

"No more so than you were," Gilgamesh answered.

That was when it finally came together in his mind, what the Blademaster was saying now: Cor hadn't failed, his greatest failure of his youth was no failure at all... he succeeded, but the thing he had come to find was not his to claim. Even the nothing he had returned with was a blessing of sorts, the strength to know he needed to be better... and now that he knew that he couldn't even say it changed anything for him. Much of his career as a warrior was done, he'd become the best he could, tempered by his failure.

"I may rest easy knowing that your mettle strengthens my line for generations to come."

"You've never met his mom," Cor answered with a smile. Perhaps some part of him thought that if Iris had undertaken the Trial, Gilgamesh would have simply yielded by default.

"I see." Cor could hear the bemused tone in the soul's voice. "He has a wisdom and restraint unlike that of his... the young man you brought before."

"Gladio," Cor said. "Leo's uncle."

"Perhaps your son was a more worthy owner of the Cadet Blade," the Blademaster answered. Cor watched as the shade seemed to shimmer. "Ah... it appears that I have finished the task given me. See that your son grows ever stronger. He is young, and has heights yet left to climb. The trials that he anticipates will come in time. As for you: go forth and know... peace. It is the greatest victory and most terrible trial a warrior can know."

"Thank you," Cor said, and after a moment he took a knee and when he lifted his head, the shade was gone.

Outside of the Chamber, his son was on his phone. "Yup, it was pretty tough, but I got him in the end! Oh, Dad's back."

"Hey, hun," he said when Leo passed over the phone.

"You get that boy home this minute so I can hug him and kiss him," Iris demanded. "I've been worried sick."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered.

Cor slung an arm over Leo's shoulders and the two of them headed out toward the exit, the passage sealed behind them, and Cor knew with absolute certainty it would never open again.

The Amicitia Manor was buzzing when the two of them returned, Leo's brother and sister, Ignis and Aranea, their son Ricard, Gladio and Heather, Heather's son James, Clarus... and of course Noct. Despite the pile of people, the actual dinner party itself was relatively staid, not a celebration per se, just a gathering of all of the people still within the city who had a vested interest in Leo Amicitia. Prompto and Talcott hadn't been able to make it, but Cor was told there would be a little teleconference later for that congratulations.

"Yeah, I dunno, Gilgamesh was pretty chill," Leo said, prodding at his steak for a moment before cutting off another piece.

Cor and Gladio exchanged a look that said: 'chill?!' 

"And he knew Dad was my dad almost right away," Leo continued. "Something about getting twice strengthened by his servant souls."

Cor chuckled, and smiled. "I think he said something about... being glad to know that my mettle strengthened his line. It's a nice thought. You're an ornery brat just like I was."

Leo beamed up at him, and Cor couldn't help but appreciate getting to see his eyes, wide and bright, looking up at him in happiness. Perhaps they were a touch older, or wiser, than when he'd last looked, but it was a comfort to look in that less jaded mirror.

"It's odd to think that the Blademaster would be aware of a familial relation not bound by blood without being told..." Ignis said, and as soon as the words were past Ignis's lips, Cor realized his mistake, and his son's.

"Well, I mean I have Dad's blood," Leo continued, thereby releasing The Family Secret into an exceptionally large gathering where most members had been in ignorance. Only Noct had been told before, soon after his return, to explain why a curious Leo had asked about Messengers allowing time travel, and why every one of his friends thought he was Leo's father...

When Cor glanced over to his brother-in-law, he could see a particularly thunderous and murderous gaze on his face. "Did you seriously lie to my face about that?"

"So it wasn't really... a lie."

"She was _fifteen_!"

"Oh my gods, Gladdy, don't kill him I can explain."

His King, the fucking jackass, laughed the entire evening afterwards, and he couldn't even be annoyed at his son, because for the first time in a decade and a half, everyone looked at the kid and absolutely, completely saw his son.


End file.
